GLASSBORO — As Rowan University tries to keep up with the influx of new students by adding more housing and parking options, the borough is addressing one potentially dangerous parking lot that sat in limbo for years.

Situated along the railroad tracks just west of campus and north of University Boulevard at the Girard Road intersection, the unmarked dirt lot had become an unofficial student parking lot. It’s a problem that the borough, the university and the property owner, Conrail, were struggling to solve.

Resident Frank Mancuso has raised some safety concerns.

Mancuso, a Glassboro resident for most of his life, had seen a number of potential problems that both students and residents could encounter due to the number of cars parking along the tracks.

“First of all, there are no lights there,” said Mancuso, referencing the fact that the lot is adjacent to a major intersection that can lead to either heavily residential areas or back to U.S. Route 322.

“The kids are basically parking there in the dark, and they’re getting out of their cars and walking in the dark,” added Mancuso.

With no asphalt surface and little space to maneuver, Mancuso sees the lot as a traffic accident waiting to happen for students leaving the location.

“You’re basically backing down a bare dirt slope with no good visibility,” said Mancuso.

It’s an issue that Rowan has known about for years but has not been able to properly address, according to Rowan University spokesman Joe Cardona.

The lot, owned by Conrail, currently does not have any “No Parking” signs nor any physical hindrance to keep students from parking there.

And, because neither Rowan nor the town owns the property, the lot remained open even though the university has had concerns about students parking there for the past few years.

“It’s been used by students for years,” said Cardona. “It’s not the best of situations and we certainly don’t condone it.”

However, Cardona said that Conrail is now working along with the borough and the university, currently in talks as to how to solve the problem in a collective manner as opposed to leaving the responsibility solely on Conrail.

“We’re in conversations with them [Conrail] to see if we can remedy it in a more attractive way,” said Cardona.

Cardona said that when the college originally reached out to the company about letting Conrail solve the situation, they blocked off a gravel lot on the other side of the intersection with cement barriers but left the dirt lot open.

“It was really up to Conrail to shut that off,” said Cardona.

It was something that had frustrated Mancuso as he voiced his concerns to all three parties and never received a solution.

“It’s something easily remedied, and you have three agencies working on it. It’s like a Jimmy Buffet concert where the beach ball gets bounced all around,” said Mancuso.

However, due to recent talks between the town and Conrail, the two are currently in discussion with Rowan University to figure out a shared solution and are in the process of sharing their resources to solve the problem with a structure that can be agreed upon by all three parties.

In a statement released by the company, Conrail said they will “continue to work with stakeholders to address this area of concern.”

Even with the sides now agreeing to tackle the problem collaboratively, it’s still something that Mancuso wants to see solved before it’s too late.

“If this were on one of the Rowan lots, this condition would never be allowed to exist,” said Mancuso. “Something needs to be done to take care of this problem.”